The end of the beginning
by AnAustralianGamer
Summary: A short two-shot about Ren's past, how he met Nora and why they are so close.
1. The end of the beginning

The end of the beginning.

The day was sunny, too sunny for one young boy of eight. That boy's name was Lie, Lie Ren.

The young boy in green pajamas pulled the covers over his head as he heard his mother call for him. The next thing he knew his older brother was at his bedside and had pulled the blankets off of the young man.

"Time to get up Lie. You don't want mother to come up here and drag you down again, do you?" A older looking boy said to the drowsy child still curled up in his bed.

The older boy was roughly the age of fourteen. He wore light blue with black lining along his changshan. The boy was the heir of the family, and his name was Fu Ren.

"Ugh. I don't want to get up." The younger boy cried to his older brother. He had never really taken a liking to mornings, or afternoons, or nights. He much preferred to just sleep then actually do things.

"Well then, i guess i will eat all of the pancakes then." Fu teased as he threw the blankets back over Lie and headed back out of the room with inaudible footsteps.

A mumbled response came from under the pile of blankets. This caused Fu to stop for a moment.

"Pardon?" He asked, already knowing what Lie would say. This was their morning ritual, and it always ended up the same way. But neither of them would change it for the world.

"I'll get up. Save me some." Lie half shouted, his voice muffling due to the blankets piled up on his head.

"Sure thing bro. Hurry up before mother comes in here and dresses you herself." The older boy taunted as he left the room to tell the pair's mother that he was getting up.

Meanwhile Lie sighed to himself, unmoving from under the blankets. After two minutes, he got up, hair sticking up in every direction. He then moved to get ready for the day, of which would be the same as yesterday, the day before, and the day before that. It was an endless cycle that was only ever broken by the occasional Grimm attacks. Such was the life of a farmer family.

* * *

After a few moments, Lie was headed down the stairs of the two story house, his feet making a soft thud on each step as he descends. The house was quiet, as his older brother would have already left to go work in the fields, and his mother would be out hanging up the day's laundry. Cleaning after two boys, a husband, and eight odd workers was a full-time job after all.

Lie quickly sat down at the table and began to eat. After he finished, he would need to head into town for his schooling. Unlike his brother who was learning to manage a farm and work hard, the younger brother decided to walk the path of a hunter, as they were in dire need in his village.

"Lie! Hurry up or you will be late!" A soft voice echoed from outside, and Lie instantly identified it as his mother's. In response he inhaled the rest of the pancakes at a speed that a normal person couldn't match.

After almost throwing his, now empty, plate into the sink, the boy ran out the front door, passing his mother as she hanged up some unmentionables.

"I'm off!" He cheered, a grin on his face so big it would make the moon jealous.

"Have fun dear." The mother of the family told her son as he ran past her, a ghost of a smile gracing her perfect red lips.

* * *

Lie got to class just in time. The teacher just called his name the moment after he entered the classroom, and almost knocking the door off it's hinges at the same time. Such as it was for a young boy with little control over his aura.

"Nice of you to join us today Lie. Take your seat." The teacher scolded in a light voice, enough to let him know that such behavior will not be allowed again, yet at the same time enough for him to know there wouldn't be any real punishment.

"Yes ma'am." He said for the eighteenth time this year, having repeated this at least once a week. He quickly took his seat, ignoring the giggling and snickering of the children around him.

Every child in his class knew of his aspirations of being a hunter, but unlike city kids, they didn't have romantic fantasies about how cool it is. These kids knew the truth of what being a hunter was about. They had all lost someone to the Grimm at one point, so they knew what would happen to Lie. Because of this, no one wanted to get close to him, so they can avoid the pain of losing him.

Thus, Lie Ren was alone. He pretended not to mind, but in reality, it ate him up from the inside. No one wanted to be his friend, all because he wanted to protect them. All because they lived in fear. But that just made his move convinced he was doing the right thing. That he could prove their fears wrong.

* * *

It was lunch time and Lie was sitting alone. Dark clouds had rolled over the previously sunny sky, shading all below. People predicted it would rain, but the young farmer's son knew better. It didn't smell like rain, so it wouldn't rain. Perhaps a light sprinkle, but not an actual rainstorm.

Just as the young boy took his first bite of his lunch, the alarms went off. There were two sets of alarms. The lighter one that signaled a few stray grimm. If that one went off, then people would continue on normally, but would be ready to run.

Then there was the one going off now. The louder, deeper, darker one. One that signaled a full Grimm invasion. One that told everyone to run.

As it turned out, the signal was given late. The Grimm had already broken into the small wall that surrounded the community and offed the normal bell ringer. It was too late to run.

As Lie began to run to the storehouse so he could hide under the floorboards with the other children, he saw something that stunned his so much that all he could do was stand and stare.

A large flock of Nevermore's where eating the entrails of the local shopkeeper. Beowolves Ripped the jugulars out of men trying to protect the people fleeing. Boarbatusk using their speed to catch up to people and rip out their spines with their tusks. Creep at every corner, herding people like goats into corners then devouring their faces. Ursa's knocking down walls and houses to grab people in their massive claws and rip them apart. Tiny Death Stalkers crawling all over people, cutting to their eyes, cutting off their fingers, stinging them in all different vital points. It was hell, and Lie Ren had a front row seat.

As the boy stood there, watching the carnige around his, something caught his eye. A King Taijitu was chasing a girl. Lie didn't know what made him move, nor did he care, but before he could even process what he was doing, he was running. Running towards the girl and the King Taijitu.

Pushing his aura into every part of his body, the young student did the most stupid thing he had ever done. He rugby tackled a King Taijitu. "Run!" Was all he could yell as the head that wasn't tackled sprung to life and started to attack him.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Again and again. It struck with the force of a sledgehammer over and over again. Lie would have died very quickly if not for his aura, but it was quickly depleting. He knew he would only be able to hold on for another few seconds. But he was glad. He was glad that his death at least saved one person.

But that's when the unexpected happened. The strikes stopped. A bloody face looked up and saw that the white head was missing, and the black head soon followed. Looking around, Lie spotted a man with a cape. The only words the boy could find to describe him was a dusty old crow.

"Get up kid. It's time to get out of here." The mystery man said as he grabbed the young lad by his shirt and pulled him off the corpse of the dead King Taijitu. Behind the man was the young girl that he had saved but moments ago.

"We are leaving, now. Everyone else is either dead, or so badly injured that they are going to die. If you try and save anyone, i'll leave you behind." The man with the cape told the pair of children. Before Lie could even say anything, he was off, almost leaving the children behind.

On the way out of the village, many Grimm attacked the trio, but the man used his weapon, a strange sword/gun combo to kill them with ease before they could lay a claw on anyone. Eventually they reached the main gate, broken open by what looked like a small Goliath, as it's corpse was rotting away only a few feet to the left.

* * *

Even after hours of walking the man didn't stop moving forward. But eventually he stopped, right before it got dark. He quickly lit a fire. and told the pair to stay close to it as he went off to get some food for them to eat.

A few minutes after he had left, the girl moved to sit next to Lie. "Umm, thanks for, you know, saving me and all." She said, tucking a stray orange hair behind her ear.

"Yeah. I couldn't really let you get eaten. I mean, i didn't really know what i was doing until i had already tackled it, but i'm glad you're fine." The boy replied, not really knowing what to say. Feeling that he should reassure the girl some more, he kept talking.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you until we reach somewhere safe."

"What about afterwards?" She asked, a hint of worry filling her voice. That worry stuck a cord in the boy's heart.

"And after." He said simply, putting his hand over the girls and giving her a ghost of a smile, much like the one his mother wore the last time he ever saw her.

The girl then proceeded to wrap her arms around the boy's arm "For ever and ever." She said, as if to hold him to his promise.

"For ever and ever." He replied, earning the first smile from the girl he had yet to see.

"Nora. Nora Valkyrie." The girl cheered, obviously trying to add some normality into the chaos that was today.

"Lie Ren." The boy said in return as he put a hand on the girl's head to sooth her.

With a yawn, Nora began to drift off. "Ren. What a lovely name." She said as she went to dreamland to forget the death they had witnessed. Though Lie didn't have the heart to tell the girl that Ren was his last name, not his first. Instead, he decided that he liked that way she said it.

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed. I felt like there wasn't enough Ren stuff out there, so i decided to add a bit to the small collection.


	2. The end of the beginning 2

It had been a few days after the attack, and Qrow had been driving the kids onwards like soldiers. Though this was both a good thing, and a bad thing. It was good because it kept their mind off what happened, but bad because they were always exhausted and on the verge of collapse.

"Alright kids. We are coming up on a city in a few hours. We will stay a few days, since you two look like you need a rest." Qrow told them both, hiding the fact that he planned to ditch them there on the second day and carry on with his mission to find information about this new figure in the underworld, the 'Queen.'

Lie, or as he is now called, Ren, nodded silently. Lately he had been becoming more quiet due to a mix of fatigue and nightmares. Every night he saw what happened to his village over and over again. But it always seemed to be blurry, and far off.

Meanwhile Nora cheered with enough energy for both of them. "Oh! Will we be sleeping in actual beds? Will we be getting real food? How about some juice? I would love some juice!" She cheered, eyes wide with excitement at the chance to have some kind of normality in her life once again.

Ren couldn't help but smile and laugh a little at his friend's act, and even saw Qrow crack a small smile at the redhead's show of excitement.

"Don't get too excited. I don't exactly carry a fortune of Lien on me." Qrow told the girl, before moving a bit faster towards the village. Though unlike before where the pair of kids would lag behind, they now kept up, they now had a reason to take another step other than to just see the next day. 

* * *

Soon the trio had arrived at the city. Ren and Nora looked at it with wonder. The wall around it was almost three times as large as their old one, and made of metal instead of wood. It even had men in uniforms walking along it, instead of an older man at the gate, and younger men wandering aimlessly around, wishing for some action.

When they finally got inside, the younger two of the trio's eyes almost flew out of their heads. Kids were playing with balls and hoops in the street, adults were putting wet clothes on the drying lines. Happy banter could be heard from a nearby bar/inn. There was even a man on the side of the street playing a guitar while singing.

"Welcome to Sanctuary. Safest place this side of Vale. There was once a movement to turn this place into the fifth kingdom, but was rejected on the terms of not having a hunter academy and not having a CCT. But they could have easily been built. The real reason is that it's government is a monarchy, lead by a lion faunus." Qrow told the kids, a small hint of anger in his voice. He knew that it was Ironwood that made the other kingdoms say no in fear of another faunus uprising.

If it was a kingdom, it could get bullhead flights out here, if there were bullheads coming out here, faunus wouldn't die in the wilderness on the way here, allowing them to come together and become a threat. At least, that's how Ironwood saw it.

"Whats a faunus?" Nora asked, tilting her head to the side slightly, as well as unknowingly widening her eyes as she asked the question. Qrow couldn't resist answering her, as his nieces did the same thing.

"See that girl with the bunny ears other there?" Qrow asked as he nodded to a small girl playing with a ball, as he knew not to point unless he wanted to raise suspicion. "She is a faunus, someone who has an animal trait. But that doesn't make them any less human than you or me. It just means they are a bit different."

Nora gasped in excitement at the sight of a pair of fluffy bunny ears. "Oh! Oh! Can I have a pair? Please! I would play with them all the time and never let them get lonely!" The young girl pleaded, but before Qrow could even reply, a hand was placed on her shoulder from behind, the hand belonging to Ren.

"Nora, I think you can only have them if you are born with them." The young lad told her, causing Nora to practically deflate before the two males of the group's very eyes. But she perked up instantly again once they started moving towards the bar/inn that the happy banter was coming from. 

* * *

Only a moment later, the trio had booked two rooms, one for the guys and one for Nora. They had eaten and the kids went to bed early, looking forwards to a good rest. Meanwhile Qrow decided it was safe to start drinking now that the kids had headed off to bed. Come morning, the bar would not have a single drop left.

But as the night drew on, so did the dreams. A few hours after sundown, Ren dreamed a horrid nightmare. It was what happened to his home village, but much worse. Ren didn't get to Nora in time and she was caught by the King Taijitu. It battered away at her, again and again, until all that was left was a bloody mess.

Qrow was attacked by the Goliath that was shot down at the gate, his weapon uneffective against the thick hide of the beast. He was quickly killed by a tusk through his chest.

Ren saw his mother running towards him, so he ran towards her, desperate to at least save his dearest mother. Reaching out for her, they were almost together, when she was suddenly ran through the back with a giant Nevermore feather, and Ren was thrown back, unable to even save his mother from death.

Vision after vision flashed before the young boy's eyes. His brother's death, his father's, and all the workers. Every child that Ren went to school with, and the teachers. Faces that he couldn't put names to, and ones he could, they all died before his eyes, each on as brutal as the last. 

* * *

Ren awoke with a jump. His face tear stained, and his clothes drenched with sweat. The young boy looked around frantically, trying to connect back to the reality of the world. The dark visions of Grimm and death slowly disappeared back into the darkness from what they came.

For an hour, Ren sat in the fetal position, heads between his knees, whimpering quietly. The emotions that he had been unable to feel at the time of his village being destroyed had all poured out at once, like a dam being opened right before it overflowed.

Eventually he started moving again, if only to find Qrow and Nora, just to make sure they had not died. His soft little feet made no sound on the wooden floor as he exited his room and headed towards the bar.

Peeking around the corner into the bar, Ren saw and heard Qrow singing loudly and drinking with no restraint. Feeling glad that Qrow was alive and well, the young lad moved back to the rooms to go find Nora.

Once he had gotten to his friends room, Ren put his ear to the door and began to listen. He knew better than to walk into a girls room. But instead of hearing Nora's snoring like normal, he heard something that made his heart stop and his blood run cold. It was a soft whimpering and crying.

The young lad took a deep breath to steel his will and opened the door. The slight creak of the door opening caused Nora to jump, and her head snap to the side so she could look at the door.

Ren himself tried to enter the room as quietly as possible, even though Nora knew he was already in the room, and was watching him as he moved towards the bed.

"Nightmares?" The young boy asked, watching the girl as she nodded wordlessly.

In response, he climbed up onto Nora's bed and began to cradle her in his arms. It wasn't just to help his friend feel better, but also to reassure him that she existed, and that the dreams where not reality, and that reality was not the dreams.

"It's alright. We are safe." He cooed to the girl, calming not only her fears, but his own as well.

Soon the pair had fallen to sleep like that, the first of many times. But when morning finally came around, Qrow decided he had to break it to the pair that he was leaving them behind.

When the old man opened the door to Nora's room, he saw the pair cuddled up, just like how his nieces do when they remember what happened to Summer.

"Guess I'm take'n the round trip." Qrow said to himself as he quietly closed the door, already planning the trip back to Vale in his head. 

* * *

Special thanks to my new mate ODST110 who edited this for me. They also got the creative juices flowing while discussing the fact that Nora and Ren were not freaking out in the first chapter. I had planned to turn this into a two-shot to show this, but I figured that would be months away at least.


End file.
